Background
Almost everyone knows robins can sing, but did you know they have other
vocalizations you can learn to recognize? In this lesson, you'll use recordings
to learn six different common robin vocalizations. Then you'll go outside
and see if you can hear them in the field. Finally, you'll see if you
can identify the context in which robins make each sound.

Activity1. Learn to recognize these five kinds of robin vocalizations.
You might want to play the recordings with a friend, and quiz each other.

3. Next, in your field notebook or on a sheet of paper,
make 7 columns with these headings:

Date
& Time

Song

Dawn
Song

Peek/Tut

Whinny

Seee

Zeeup

4. Now go outside near a robin territory and listen for 15 minutes. Each
time you hear a robin make one of these sounds, make a tally markt in the
appropriate column. Also write the robin's behavior while it was vocalizing,
and the date and the time of day. (Make a note of the weather on the back
of the page or in your field notebook.)

5. Analyze:What do these calls mean?
When you hear a robin making a sound, try to discover what that call means.
If possible, tape record your robins. How many different calls can you
hear? Robins have one alarm call when they notice hawks and another for
ground predators. They make a different sound when they discover a cat
near their nest than when they discover a nearby human. Some ornithologists
have described various robin calls as "teek," "tuk-tuk,"
"teacheach," and "eee." How would you describe the
calls you hear?

Lang Elliott, an authority on bird vocalizations, tells
us:

The robin's
song is a territorial declaration.

The dawn
song is a more animated, excited territorial declaration.

The "peek"
and "tut" calls are heard in alarm situations.

The "whinny"
is heard in mildly alarming situations.

The high-pitched
"Seeeee" call is given in response to the presence of an aerial
predator, like a hawk.

The "Zeeeup"
call is a contact note heard mainly during migration.

Keep this
in mind during your field observations so you can see whether you hear
examples that agree with these interpretations. For instance, did you
succeed in hearing a robin react to a predator or other danger? Describe
what you heard and saw.

6. Get to
know your robin. Repeat your observations at least 6 separate times. (Listen
at different times of the day; the same time each day; and various times
during the week, month and/or season.)

Try
This! Journaling or Discussion Questions

How much
do robin songs and calls vary at different times of day?Compare
results with other students who listened to different robins at different
times of day. Can you draw any conclusions about robin vocalizations?
What new questions do you have?

Do songs
and calls vary between individuals?

Try to
compare a male and a female. Do you hear a difference between males
and females?

National
Science Education Standards

Plan and
conduct a simple investigation.

Use data
to conduct a reasonable explanation.

Behavior
is one kind of response an organism can make to an internal or environmental
stimulus.